Konyak

Ok, thanks for the help. It's running again, and here's what I did: Even though I'd swapped the carb for another Hitachi some while back, I did it again this time, and it ran fine. However, after a week or so, it fouled up again, so I decided to take a look in the fuel tank. Removing it was harder than the crappy Haynes manual implied, but once out, I shook all the water and dirt out of it. Planned to have it coated on the inside, but it was going to cost more than I could afford (Christmas:) ) so I swirled it out well, and put it back in. Then I decided to check the fuel pump, as it was little more than a rusty chunk, and after hooking it up to some 12v on the bench, I couldn't get it to pump gas at all. Since the pump wasn't working, I began to wonder if it was possible that the car had been sucking gas out of the tank using the return pipe from the carb ??? I'm sure there has to be a one way valve on that pipe, but it would sure explain how the carb managed to get so much dirt in it through 2 inline filters on the gas line. Anyway, I bought a new gas pump, a generic American one that was probably intended to feed some much larger engine, I think with 8.8 psi pressure. It fit, and it worked, so I was a happy camper, feeling the car had more power now than before. Until a week later, when it simply quit without warning. This time it wouldn't run at all, but if I squirted gas into the carb, it would run for a second or two, so it was definately the new pump had stopped pumping. I took it out, and checked it, but it was fine. So I had to search for an electrical failure. Tracing the wire all the way from the pump to under the dash, I found a little black box, that had a small relay in it, on a surprizingly complex circuit board. Checking the manual, this is called the Fuel pump control unit. It smelled of overheated elektronics, and sure enough, there was a burnt transistor on it. I love it when I can see or smell electric problems:) I hijacked this unit from another car, and it started running perfectly again, until 2 days ago, when the same thing happened. So obviously, the new pump is pulling more power than this control unit can handle, so I picked up some transitors that are twice as capable, and soldered them onto this circuit board. This I did last night, and it runs fine. Now all I need to do is wait and see how long it holds, or if something else will Bottom line, my problems are possibly that my fuel pump was working erratically, and finally died, and the car won't idle without proper fuel pressure. If that makes sense to you, then perhaps people can check their pumps if they are having these problems, but beware of putting any aftermarket pump in there. Also, if my control unit keeps burning out, does anyone here know why this unit is so complex? I mean, it's only a fuel pump, what does this unit do? Was wondering if I should just replace the control unit with a regular relay, but that leaves 2 wires out of the 6 pin connector that I have no idea what are for.

I have an 89 GL 1800 4WD with the Hitachi carb, not SPFI, no computers, the only thing automatic is the choke. I have spent the last 2 hours reading through the results of searches, but everyone has SPFI or Turbo or something I can't compare with. I broke the basic rule of letting my engine suck my tank dry the other day. Before I did this, it was running as well as can be expected, allthough it does stall coming out of idle under acceleration. Anyway, after I refuled it, it started to die when I took the foot of the pedal. I'd had this happen before, and then I cured it by installing a fuel filter right up against the carb, as I knew the tank was rusty. So I replaced both my fuel filters, but it still won't idle once the engine heats up. Sum up: 1. Starts great when cold. 2. Auto-choke has it running at 2000 rpm or so, and if I don't do anything, it will slowly increase the rpm's to about 3500 ( ) and then the choke will turn off by itself. 3. After driving for about 15 minutes I'd say, something happens, I can feel it when it kicks in, and it doesn't run quite as smoothly. At that point, I know that if I lift off the gas pedal, it will quit. Time to do the handbrake-gas-pedal dance. 4. It comes and goes on it's own and sometimes, it seems to happen as a result of going over a speedbump a bit hard. (for instance) What I've done so far: 1. Switch carbs, no difference. 2. Increased the idle stop screw. Anymore wouldn't be considered idling 3. Changed fuel-filters. I have two, both had rust deposits and water in them. 4. Put anti-condenser anti-freeze additive into the gas, cause of the water. 5. Car has Jacobs 8.0 mm super-duper sparkplug wires, pretty new plugs-rotor-distycap. Any help is greatly appreciated. Feel free to use your abbreviations for various engine components, as often as you like, if only at first you use the un-abbreviated name I'm not familiar with all the English abbreviations, as it's not my 1st language. To those of you who can't help out, but took the time to read this, perhaps with similar problems, hope this thread may help you out as well. Have a Merry Christmas! Thanks, Konyak

Thanks for the welcome Matty, it's really nice to find such a knowledgable and active Subaru community. I started up the car earlier, it's about -5C° out and there was quite alot of blue smoke until it warmed up. While I didn't plan to do this swap in the immidiate future, it would seem that time is not on my side. Car only has 256.000 km on it though. In regards to AWD, it is currently 4WD Manual. As I recall, the 2.2 is only about 135 HP stock, and I can't see that being a problem in FWD. How bad was it? I'd *like* to have the drivetrain from Impreza/Forester with the LSD's and all that, but I'm having a hard time justifying that sort of work on a car that has no resale value here, wots-o-ever Even if the 1st gear sounds like I'm in reverse If I do this though, I'll be sure to keep a journal of my experience that would hopefully help towards the comprehensive step-by-step guide that SuberDave and others have spoken of making. Matt, like your avatar. Jeremy Clarkson's ride in the Ariel Atom was phenomenal.

Thanks Phizinza. Yeah, I should have spent more time searching, but like many, I was daunted by the number of threads that touch on this, but never offered a compiled list of problems I'd encounter. Your list of threads proved to be 100% what I needed to know, especially the 3rd one. I'm especially pleased that it does indeed seem worth the effort to only swap the engine and keep my GL drivetrain, since I'm not looking to offroad or drag race Thanks again, much appreciated! Konyak

Hey USMB guys and gals, Just found this board and decided to test the waters for this project. I know it's been done, but not sure if it's possible to shove in just an EJ20 or EJ22 instead of the EA82, or if I need to replace the whole transmission and if so, where does it end? Struts and all? Any info on this would be GREATLY appreciated, as I just finished restoring the bodywork, and am feeling a strong need to get better MPG's and allround power uppage. Am I better off tweaking the EA82 (currently carbed) with a rebuild and the Weber? Thanks! You can see my wagon at cardomain.com here: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2464455 Konyak